Search crews on Monday located the bodies of two men who had been reported missing after intense rainfall triggered flooding across southern Spain, authorities said, raising the confirmed death toll to three.
Spain’s Guardia Civil said one of the victims was found roughly three kilometres from the spot where he was swept away on Sunday by a river swollen by heavy rain near Granada (Andalusia).
Spanish television reported that the victim, aged 20, was carried off while attempting to cross a riverbed on a motorcycle.
The body of a second man, whose van was also swept away by floodwaters, was recovered in the province of Málaga, according to the mayor of Alhaurín el Grande, Antonio Bermúdez.
A second passenger travelling in the van was found dead on Sunday.
The two men, both in their early 50s, were ‘lifelong friends’, Bermúdez said, calling the events a ‘sad and dark Christmas for the community’.
He added that the town had declared Tuesday an official day of mourning and cancelled all public events ‘because no one in Alhaurín el Grande feels like celebrating anything at this time’.
Spain has been increasingly affected by climate change in recent years, with longer heatwaves and more frequent periods of intense rainfall. ALSO READ: OECD warns climate change ‘increasingly threatens’ Spain’s dynamic economy.
In October 2024, flooding killed more than 230 people, most of them in the eastern Valencia region. Click here for all our reports related to the Valencia Floods.
Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter from Spain in English
DIRECTO📺| Antonio Bermúdez, alcalde de Alhaurín el Grande, declara día de luto oficial tras hallarse el segundo cuerpo de una persona tras el temporal.#Canal24horashttps://t.co/vVRqw1kQ0I pic.twitter.com/F1qFcahZ0v
— RTVE Noticias (@rtvenoticias) December 29, 2025
La Guardia Civil continúa con el dispositivo de búsqueda en la localidad de Alhaurín el Grande (Málaga)
La búsqueda está formada por más de 150 personas y están participando el equipo de rescate de montaña, buzos, helicópteros, SEPRONA, USECIC, unidades de seguridad ciudadana y… pic.twitter.com/xVgD8jSlDc
— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) December 29, 2025
Click here to get your business activity or services listed on our DIRECTORY.